When they arrive, hay fever symptoms are impossible to ignore.

The runny nose, itchy watery eyes, the redness and the sneezing; the way it stops you from concentrating and gives you that awful lackluster feeling. Hay fever can severely affect a person's life, making spring and summer an especially trying time and turning the changing seasons into a real ordeal. Its proper medical name is allergic rhino conjunctivitis, though it is a lso known as seasonal allergic rhinitis. This condition is the most common aller gy that there is and is linked to something called oral allergy syndrome. Occurring mostly in the spring and summer months, hay fever is believed to affect over 50 million people in the USA and more than 16 million people in t he UK. Canada is estimated to have around 5 million hay fever sufferers and Aust ralia about 3.5 million. But clearly, in this case there is no safety - or comfort - in numbers. If you have hay fever then it's your life that is being affected and all you rea lly want is to find a way to end the misery. The causes of hay fever are widely known. People who suffer from hay fev er have an allergic response to pollen and other airborne antigens such as funga l spores or environmental pollutants. The symptoms are produced because of the body's over-reaction to these i rritants. It is the task of the immune system to respond to such antigens by pro ducing histamines which are meant to protect us from such foreign bodies. With t he person suffering from hay fever, however, the body produces far too much anti histamine and this causes those troublesome symptoms. The stuffy, bunged-up feel ing and watery eyes that can lead to wheezing and headaches. Hay fever treatment traditionally focuses on taking anti-histamine medic ation designed to alleviate the symptoms. These preparations may come either in tablet form or as a nasal spray. Anti-inflammatory or anti-allergy nasal sprays and eye drops may also be used. Decongestant sprays and tablets are also availab le which attempt to unblock the sinuses, but these can have the unfortunate affe ct of actually worsening matters because of rebound blocking. Immunotherapy is also available for chronic hay fever in certain areas. This consists of desensitizing the system so that it does not over-react to airb orne antigens. Such therapy consists in giving tablets or injections which conta in very small amounts of pollen and the amount being increased over a period of time. This process is costly and time-consuming, however, and is not available e verywhere. Fortunately, there are other ways of dealing with hay fever, and many pe ople find these methods preferable to medication since they have absolutely no s ide effects. The most effective of these are designed to lessen or prevent the pollen or other irritants from entering the body through the nose. A very good way of reducing the amount of pollen entering rough the application of a cream that acts as a barrier. Designed smeared just below the nose, these creams trap pollen and prevent ng the nostrils, thereby reducing the production of histamines in the body is th to be lightly it from enteri the body. HayM

ax and similar products work on this concept, with many people reporting real re lief. Another excellent way of preventing pollen from entering the body throug h the nose is through a disposable nasal filter. These small and discrete device s are designed to fit snugly inside the nostrils, where their fine mesh filters out any airborne antigens. It might take a little getting used to in the beginning, but with just a little persistence it soon becomes comfortable. Most people quickly become accu stomed to wearing this kind of device and soon forget that its there. These disp osable filters are designed to be worn during the daytime, they really are discr eet and hardly noticeable, and may also be comfortably used at night, while slee ping. Wearers report real improvement of their symptoms, with many claiming that the nasal filters have freed them to live a normal life during spring and summe r. In the UK, Australia and New Zealand these filters are marketed under the bra nd name 'Breathe-Eazy', while in the USA and Canada they are known as 'Breathecl eanair'; of course, other brands may be available, so be sure to check around. If you or someone you care about suffers from hay fever why not give the se alternative remedies a try? You might just be surprised to learn that your ha y fever doesn't have the power to spoil things for you anymore. DISCLAIMER: This article is provided for general information purposes on ly, and should not be treated as a substitute for the medical advice of your own doctor or any other health care professional.

More Tips for coping with Hay Fever can be found at http://www.Allergies-help.com/hay-fever